My Best Friend Gives a Damn
by miekhead
Summary: Katherine has said goodbye to all of her friends but one - Bree. To her surprise, she finds this departure harder than she initially thought.


Author's Note: I always felt that Katherine's departure was rushed and though satisfying, I thought that her leaving without saying goodbye was a little insensitive. Perfect prompt from ubiquitousmixie.

Katherine Mayfair stood at the window of her living room, looking over the darkening paving of Wisteria Lane. It was now or never. She shivered a little as her blonde lover approached from behind, wrapping surprisingly strong arms around her abdomen.

"What are you thinking?" Robin asked with that naughty husk she used, nibbling lightly on the redhead's ear.

Katherine laughed a little nervously, "I'm thinking...What the hell have I got myself into?" She heard the ex-stripper giggle lightly in her ear and couldn't help but shiver again. She didn't really know whether the shivering was good or bad, but just accepted the feeling as her lover rocked them both gently. "I...I have to say goodbye..." She heard Robin's breath hitch, still a wounded by the previous 'near dumping'. "I mean...I mean to my friends." Stop acting like a bumbling fool and just get it over with.

"Alright," the blonde turned her around for a kiss. "Don't be too long, okay?" Katherine nodded a little awkwardly and muttered an 'I'll be back soon' before leaving the house. This was the right thing...right? Leaving to get a fresh start, working things out with the woman who had snatched her heart up so rapidly it scared her; Yep, it was definitely the right thing.

Lynette was a little angry. Susan sounded a little relieved, despite herself. Gabby... was surprisingly quite tearful and very huggy for some reason. Last but certainly not least...

Katherine took a deep breath and knocked.

The particular woman opened the door looking a little harried after clearing away the remains of the evening meal. "Katherine!" Bree smiled and opened the door a little wider. "Are you alright?" She noticed the pallor to the woman's face. The perfectionist gestured the woman inside and shut the door behind herself.

"Yeah...I'm fine... I'm great! Really great…" She bubbled a little too enthusiastically, feeling her forehead sweat a little. She really really hated partings.

"Good..." Bree searched her friend's eyes for a motive, a little confused. "So what can I do for you?"

"I came to...I came to say goodbye." Katherine blurted, freaked out being a total understatement.

"Goodbye?" The other redhead laughed sardonically. A moment passed and realization dawned. "Oh..." Katherine just nodded. "Where will you be going?"

"I don't know…" Katherine stepped away from the close proximity and sniffed back a few tears with a strange smile on her face. "Paris, Venice, wherever life takes us."

Bree could see that her close friend was a little unhinged and brought her into the living room where they could have some privacy, making sure the door was shut, away from her husband's eavesdropping habits.

"When are you going?" She felt a little ridiculous asking so many questions but this really was ridiculously impromptu.

"In about fifteen minutes…" Katherine wanted to smack herself for letting her voice break so badly. She was becoming such a mushball lately and it annoyed the crap out of her.

"This… this is very unexpected." The taller woman remained poised as she looked the woman in the face.

"It's what I need to do." Remain distant…distant is good.

"And do you know when you will be back?" Bree asked.

"What is this, backwards Jeopardy?" Katherine nervously quipped with a smirk.

The other woman frowned, looking annoyed."I just feel that this is very rushed."

"It is… but that's the point." Katherine watched as her friend turned her back. "Bree…"

"I don't want you to go." Bree's voice still remained stoic and a little remote but the semantics were there. "I mean…are you even..."

"Even what?"

"Are you even gay?" The word was spat out.

"I..I don't know…I really like her. " Katherine felt cornered. "I think so, maybe." She left the statement open not feeling so sure herself and looked at the regal clock standing proud on the mantel. It was all so…Bree.

"Listen, I have to go." Bree still had her back turned and let out a few silent tears, nodding as coldly as she could. The entrepreneur didn't talk and Katherine felt tears running down her own face at the brush off. "Okay…I errr… I need to go, Robin and I have a flight to catch."

Turning she walked the door then stopped. Looking at the wooden grain and focusing harshly started to feel very irritated. "You know what? I knew you hadn't forgiven me…" She shook her head in disbelief. " I'm still that psycho to you, aren't I? And what's worse?" She paused and felt her breath fluttering as she made one of the deepest admissions she had ever kept. "I thought we had something once." Katherine began to walk back towards the still figure. "I thought that we had a certain chemistry but obviously that permanent stick up your ass thinks different." She let out a frustrated growl. "Were you ever attracted to me, Bree? Were you? Or did you just want to fuck with my mind… well it worked… my mind was fucked and I was so desperate for love that it got me in… it got me in a whole load of trouble."

She expected the other woman to admonish her for such foul language but still, the redhead remained extremely quiet and unmoving, facing the wall with a stubbornness that had Bree Van De Kamp written all over it. "Everytime I thought we had something… you would go and do something to mess it all up… And then I would! And now my girlfriend is waiting for me so that we can whisk each other away, have cocktails in a cute Parisian bar… and my best friend can't even give a damn..." She let out a small sob, "Goodbye, Bree Mason." The initially still woman flinched harshly. The soon parting redhead knew that the use of the maiden name would be a punch to the gut. A hint at failure. But she was so angry, she had to let it out. Turning to leave she felt a sudden grasp to her hand and was pulled around.

"I was…" Bree croaked out as she gently took an unruly lock of Katherine's hair between her fingers and put it back in place. She so wanted to say how she felt but Katherine was right. She was her best friend. She needed to let her friend go, start a new life and so she remained in the past tense. "I was always attracted to you." Katherine looked into the swollen eyes and realized that the woman had been crying the whole time.

"I…I thought you—"

"Go, Katherine.… It's okay." Bree smiled sadly and looked down at their hands still firmly clasped. Silence overwhelmed them and she looked into Katherine's teary eyes.

What came over her, she didn't know but slowly the taller woman felt herself leaning further against her best friend until their breaths mingled. And then their lips touched. Perfectly fine… a kiss between friends.

Katherine felt a soft texture against her as Bree's tongue probed her lips and a strong hand grasped at her back, pulling her closer. She felt the back of her top being bunched up in Bree's fist and pushed herself forward into the embrace. It was divine. And it was so wrong, but she couldn't help but close her eyes and let Bree enter, the kiss milky and sweet.

After a few more moments of pure uninterrupted bliss, she realized where she was and tore her mouth away from Bree's, looking at her with wide eyes. "I…I have to go now." Katherine stuttered and walked towards the door, trying to get her shaky legs to work.

"Have fun," Bree preened herself as she wiped her eyes, becoming the business woman again suddenly. "I'll miss you, Katherine. We all will."

All the other woman could do was nod and she left the house, trying to work things around her head. Her shoulders shook as she cried and she somehow found the keys to her own house, opening the door and slamming it accidentally behind her.

"Honey…" Robin breathed as she saw the upset woman, and rushed over, pulling her into her arms. Katherine sobbed louder and thudded her cheek against the blonde's shoulder. "Was that hard to do? Saying goodbye?" The redhead nodded, feeling so guilty she was about to be sick.

And then she told her. She suddenly found herself telling Robin every single thing. How on Earth could she be that open with somebody; especially considering her usually secretive nature? What was even more amazing was that Robin understood her heartache and gently smoothed tears away from her girlfriend's cheek as the woman relayed the story of her friendship with the neurotic housewife.

After as long a talk as they could manage with their time constraints and after lots of reassurances, Katherine found herself elated. She smiled as they stood at the car, packed full of fancy suitcases, and wiped an errant tear from Robin's face. The blonde laughed a little self consciously, her heart feeling light and fluffy and she got into the car, feeling ready for anything that came her way.

Something made the caterer turn around. Stood at the window was her redhead. Her best friend, who gave a bittersweet smile and gestured a small wave goodbye. Katherine did the same, her hand lingering in the air and let one last tear out for the kisses that never were; climbed into the Kia Borrego, ready for her new start.


End file.
